Last night Erin and I watched Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth and we both thought it was a great movie. It’s very interesting to watch, and although I never have questioned global warming, I hadn’t seen all of the evidence in a neatly wrapped up hour and a half information binge.
I don’t believe I have anyone reading this blog that doesn’t agree that global warming is an issue. I’m a little surprised there is such a large debate about it, actually. This is one of many situations that I feel embarrassed to be an American because of our country’s position on the subject. We need to reform not for our own sake (although some experts will say that it is for our own sake), but for future generations’ sake.
What’s the solution? I don’t think there’s any one solution. One that I’ve been in favor of is raising the gas taxes. Sure, I spend quite a bit on gas each month already (over $100), and I wouldn’t enjoy paying $200 per month instead. However, I would enjoy knowing that by doubling the cost of gas would burden owners of inefficient vehicles to reconsider their transportation. This would have two effects: it would create a larger demand for higher efficiency vehicles (or alternative fuel vehicles), and threaten the gas-guzzling SUV market, and hopefully increase our desire to find ways to cut back on fuel consumption such as car pooling, public transportation, etc. Of course there’s the issue of what to do with this additional tax revenue, but that’s another issue entirely — it certainly shouldn’t be going back to the oil companies.
What else? LED lighting I believe is the answer. Sure the compact fluorescent lights are gaining popularity, but there are concerns over the mercury content in the bulbs and how that will affect the environment once they finally do burn out. LED lighting have an even higher efficiency level and don’t have the same concerns, from what I’ve read. If a majority of US households started adopting high efficiency lighting, it can also have a large impact.
Of course while I can do these things and more, if we don’t have the cooperation and participation of large companies to help reduce their carbon level, we can only go so far. While I have no hope for the current administration to do much right in this next year and a half, I will certainly be voting for someone who agrees that this is a problem and wants to solve it in a rapid manner.